Lottery Officials Track Down the Winner of an Unclaimed Jackpot . . . To Tell Her She Won $47 Million

What if you hit the jackpot, but lost the lottery ticket? Tough luck, right? And for the rest of your life, you'd feel like an idiot who COULD have been a millionaire. Well, not necessarily.

About a year ago, someone in Ontario, Canada bought a winning ticket for a jackpot worth $47 MILLION. But they never came forward to collect it. Several months later, someone called in and CLAIMED to be the winner, but they didn't have the ticket.

So officials went to the store where the ticket was sold, checked the credit card records and surveillance video, and determined the person WASN'T the real winner. But it turned out the ticket WAS bought with a credit card.

So last week, 55-year-old Kathryn Jones heard a knock on the door, and opened it to see several lottery officials . . . who informed her that SHE was the real winner.

It turns out Kathryn LOST the ticket before she was able to check the numbers. But they were able to prove she'd won by checking the credit records and watching video from the store.

Kathryn still has to go through some red tape, but she'll be able to collect the money in about 30 days. (Gawker / CTV News)